Learning support apparatus, data output method in learning support apparatus, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a learning support apparatus includes a display unit and a processor. The processor executes a process of reading out map data of a designated age from a plurality of map data corresponding to a plurality of ages, and outputting the read-out map data; and reading out, if a position on a map is designated on the output map data, historical information relating to the designated position and the designated age of the map from historical dictionary data, and outputting the read-out historical information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2014-117117, filed Jun. 5, 2014, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a learning support apparatus forsupporting learning of history and geography, a data output method inthe learning support apparatus, and a storage medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, as an apparatus for supporting learning of history, forexample, the following is known.

There is thought a display system of historical event information withmap information, wherein accurate map information composed of latitudeand longitude of the earth is added to a historical informationdatabase, and historical event information can be comprehensivelysurveyed in chronological order by designating an area/age (e.g. Jpn.Pat. Appin. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-191761).

There is thought a historical map output apparatus wherein historicalinformation corresponding to a time, which is designated by timedesignation information for designating a past time, is acquired, and animage of the acquired historical information can be displayed on animage of map information of an area relating to this historicalinformation (e.g. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2008-145935).

It is desired that learning be done more easily by associatinghistorical matters with geography of the age of the historical matters.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the aboveproblem, and the object of the invention is to provide a learningsupport apparatus and method, which enable easier learning byassociating historical matters with geography of the age of thehistorical matters.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A learning support apparatus according to the present invention is alearning support apparatus including a display unit and a processor. Theprocessor is configured to execute a process of:

reading out map data of a designated age from a plurality of map datacorresponding to a plurality of ages, and outputting the read-out mapdata; and

reading out, if a position on a map is designated on the output mapdata, historical information relating to the designated position and thedesignated age of the map from historical dictionary data, andoutputting the read-out historical information.

According to the learning support apparatus, learning can be done moreeasily by associating historical matters with geography of the age ofthe historical matters.

Advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description whichfollows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may belearned by practice of the invention. Advantages of the invention may berealized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinationsparticularly pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the general description given above and the detaileddescription of the embodiments given below, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electroniccircuit of a learning support apparatus 10 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram in a case where the learning supportapparatus 10 is realized by a tablet terminal 20T and a server apparatus30S.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an external appearance in a case where thelearning support apparatus 10 is implemented by an electronic dictionaryapparatus 10D.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the content of a historical dictionary DB32 b 1 which is stored in a content DB 32 b.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the content of a map DB (area-by-areabasis) 32 c 1 which is stored in a map/place-name DB 32 c.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the content of a place-name DB 32 c 2which is stored in the map/place-name DB 32 c.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a history/geography learning processwhich is executed by the learning support apparatus 10.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a dictionary search process in thelearning support apparatus 10.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are views illustrating a display operation (part 1)of the learning support apparatus 10.

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are views illustrating a display operation (part2) of the learning support apparatus 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electroniccircuit of a learning support apparatus 10 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

The learning support apparatus 10 is configured to include aninput/output device 20 and a data processor 30 that is a computer.

The input/output device 20 includes a key input unit 21, a touchpanel-equipped display unit 22, an input/output controller 23 for thekey input unit 21 and touch panel-equipped display unit 22, and aninterface (IF) unit 20 for connecting the input/output controller 23 tothe data processor 30.

The data processor 30 includes a controller (CPU) 31, a storage device32 which stores various programs for executing control operations of thecontroller 31, and databases, a RAM 33 which stores working data whichis involved in the control operations, and an interface (IF) unit 34 forconnecting the controller (CPU) 31 to the input/output device 20.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram in a case where the learning supportapparatus 10 is realized by a tablet terminal 20T and a server apparatus30S.

In the case of the learning support apparatus 10 illustrated in FIG. 2,the tablet terminal 20T functions as the input/output device 20, and theserver apparatus 30S functions as the data processor 30.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an external appearance in a case where thelearning support apparatus 10 is implemented by an electronic dictionaryapparatus 10D.

In the case of the electronic dictionary apparatus 10D illustrated inFIG. 3, both the input/output device 20 and the data processor 30 areintegrally built in the electronic dictionary apparatus 10D. The keyinput unit 21 is provided on a lower case side of the apparatus body,and the touch panel-equipped display unit 22 is provided on an uppercase side of the apparatus body. The key input unit 21 of the electronicdictionary apparatus 10D includes various dictionary designation keys,character input keys, a [Jump] key, a [Select] key, and a [Back] key.Furthermore, the key input unit 21 includes a [History/GeographyLearning] key 21 a for setting the operation mode of history/geographylearning.

Control programs 32 a which are executed by the controller 31, a contentDB 32 b and a map/place-name DB 32 c are prestored in the storage device32 of the data processor 30. These programs and data may be read in andstored from an external storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a memorycard, or may be downloaded and stored from a program server on acommunication network such as the Internet.

The control programs 32 a include a system program which controls theoperation of the entirety of the learning support apparatus 10, and acommunication program for communicating data with an external device onthe communication network, or a user PC (Personal Computer) which is notshown. In addition, the control programs 32 a include a dictionarysearch program for controlling a search process, as a whole, for thecontent DB 32 b in the storage device 32. Besides, the control programs32 a includes a learning support program for enabling learning in whicha historical matter is associated with geography of the age of thishistorical matter, based on the content DB 32 b and map/place-name DB 32c in the storage device 32.

The control programs 32 a are started in accordance with an input signalcorresponding to a user operation from the key input unit 21 of theinput/output device 20 or the touch panel-equipped display unit 22, or acommunication signal with an external device on the communicationnetwork. Various dictionary DBs (Databases), such as a Japanesedictionary, an English-Japanese dictionary, a Japanese-Englishdictionary, an English-English dictionary and a historical dictionary,are stored in the content DB 32 b.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the content of a historical dictionary DB32 b 1 which is stored in the content DB 32 b in the data processor 30of the learning support apparatus 10.

In this historical dictionary DB 32 b 1, information of historycorresponding to ages in respective areas such as Asia, Europe, etc. isstored such that the data of entry words are associated with the data ofmatters of the politics, culture and products relating to the data ofthe entry words.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the content of a map DB (area-by-areabasis) 32 c 1 which is stored in the map/place-name DB 32 c in the dataprocessor 30 of the learning support apparatus 10.

In this map DB (area-by-area basis) 32 c 1, map data relating to eachage (XX (year) to YY (year)) is stored on an area-by-area basis withrespect to areas such as Asia, Europe, etc.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the content of a place-name DB 32 c 2which is stored in the map/place-name DB 32 c in the data processor 30of the learning support apparatus 10.

In this place-name DB 32 c 2, place-names existing on respective mapdata stored in the map DB (area-by-area basis) 32 c 1 and the data of XYcoordinates (latitude and longitude) of the positions of the place-namesare stored such that the place-names and the data of XY coordinates areassociated with map IDs of the map data.

In the RAM 33 in the data processor 30, a display data storage area 33 aand a designated position data storage area 33 b are secured.

In the display data storage area 33 a, display data, which is to bedisplayed on the touch panel-equipped display unit 22, is stored.

In the designated position data storage area 33 b, position data, whichwas designated in accordance with a user operation on the displayed mapdata, is stored.

In the learning support apparatus 10 with the above-described structure,the controller (CPU) 31 of the data processor 30 controls the operationsof the respective circuit components in accordance with instructionsdescribed in the control programs 32 a (including the above-describeddictionary search program and learning support program), and realizesfunctions, which will be described in the operational description below,by the cooperation between software and hardware.

Next, the operation of the learning support apparatus 1 with the abovestructure is described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a history/geography learning processwhich is executed by the data processor 30 of the learning supportapparatus 10.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a dictionary search process in thehistory/geography learning process of the learning support apparatus 10.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are views illustrating a display operation (part 1)in the input/output device 20 according to the history/geographylearning process of the learning support apparatus 10.

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are views illustrating a display operation (part2) in the input/output device 20 according to the history/geographylearning process of the learning support apparatus 10.

If the control program 32 a (learning support program) of the dataprocessor 30 is started by the data processor 30 in accordance with auser operation of the input/output device 20, an operation modeselection screen, which prompts selection of either a map learning modefor learning from a map or a dictionary learning mode for learning froma dictionary, is transmitted to the input/output device 20 and isdisplayed on the touch panel-equipped display unit 22 of theinput/output device 20.

(Map Learning Mode)

If it is determined that the map learning mode was selected on theoperation mode selection screen (step S1 (Yes)), an area designationscreen for designating a place (area), which is to be set as an objectof learning, is transmitted to the input/output device 20 and displayed.

If a user designates an area, which is to be set as an object oflearning, through the area designation screen (step S2), present-day mapdata of the designated area is read out from the map DB (area-by-areabasis) 32 c 1 of the map/place-name DB 32 c, and, as illustrated in FIG.9A, the present-day map data is transmitted to the input/output device20 and displayed (step S3).

FIG. 9A illustrates a state in which “East Asia area” is designated asthe designated area, and map data M1 of the modern East Asia area isdisplayed.

At this time, an age designation slider SL for designating an age isdisplayed under the map data M1. Incidentally, a tab T of the agedesignation slider SL initially designates the present age. In addition,item buttons “Politics” K1, “Culture” K2 and “Products” K3 fordesignating what kind of matters are to be learnt with respect to thedesignated age are displayed. The searched history or geographyinformation is displayed on an information display area E.

Then, if the tab T of the age designation slider SL is operated by theuser and the age of the seventh century, for instance, is designated asillustrated in FIG. 9B, it is determined in the data processor 30 thatthe age was designated (step S4 (Yes)), and map data M2 of the “EastAsia area” corresponding to the “seventh century” is read out from themap DB (area-by-area basis) 32 c 1, transmitted to the input/outputdevice 20 and displayed (step S5). If the user touches one point on themap of the map data M2 of the “East Asia area” of the “seventh century”displayed on the touch panel-equipped display unit 22, it is determinedin the data processor 30 that a position was designated (step S6 (Yes)),and, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, a designated position mark “x Point 1”is displayed at the touched position on the map data M2 (step S7).

Then, the XY coordinates (latitude/longitude) corresponding to thedesignated position “x Point 1” and the place-name of the designatedposition “x Point 1” are acquired from the place-name DB 32 c 2, and“Point 1; North latitude: 37.17892, East longitude: 128.673019,

(Koukurikoku “Koguryo”)

(Imokuri)” is displayed (step S8). Incidentally, a plurality of placescan be designated by the position designation.

If the user operates, for example, the item button “Politics” K1, it isdetermined that the item was designated (step S9 (Yes)), and matters(historical information) of “Politics” including the place-name “Point1:

(Koukurikoku “Koguryo”)

(Imokuri)” are searched from the historical dictionary DB 32 b 1 (stepS10). As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, the content “

(Bc37

” (Koguryo (c. 37 BC-668 AD) . . . ) is displayed on the informationdisplay area E as the search result (step S11).

In the meantime, when the user designated a plurality of positions onthe map data M2, the coordinates corresponding to the respectivedesignated positions “Point 1, Point 2, . . . ” and the place-namesthereof are acquired and displayed. Then, if an arbitrary button Kn ofthe item buttons is designated, common matters of the designated item,which include the place-names of the respective designated positions,are searched from the historical dictionary DB 32 b 1 and displayed(steps S6 to S11).

In the state in which the search result is displayed on the informationdisplay area E, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, if a place-name “

” (Musashinokuni Komagun) h in the text of the search result isselected, it is determined that the place-name was selected (step S12(Yes)). Then, the XY coordinates (latitude/longitude) of the positioncorresponding to the designated place-name is read out from theplace-name DB 32 c 2, and a designated position mark “x Point 2” isdisplayed at the corresponding position on the map data M2 (step S13).

Then, if an item button Kn, which is other than from the “Politics” K1,is designated (step S14 (Yes)), matters of the other item (Kn), whichinclude the place-name of the designated position, are searched from thehistorical dictionary DB 32 b 1 and displayed (steps S10 and S11).

(Dictionary Learning Mode)

On the other hand, if it is determined that the dictionary learning modewas selected by a user operation on the operation mode selection screen(step S1 (No)), a transition occurs to the dictionary search processillustrated in FIG. 8 (step SA).

If the dictionary search process is started, an input screen of a searchword is displayed on the touch panel-equipped display unit 22 of theinput/output device 20. The user inputs a search word on this inputscreen (step A1). Next, in the data processor 30, an entry wordcorresponding the input search word is searched from the historicaldictionary DB 32 b 1 (step A2).

Then, explanatory information (historical information) of the searchedentry word is read out of the historical dictionary DB 32 b 1, and isdisplayed on the touch panel-equipped display unit 22 of theinput/output device 20 (step A3).

If the user touches a place-name included in the displayed explanatoryinformation (historical information) (step A4 (Yes)), the associated ageis specified from the text of characters and numerals, such as “

” (AD), “BC” and “

” (year), which are included in this explanatory information (step A5).

Then, map data Mn of the specified age, which relates to the areaincluding the designated place-name, is specified based on the map DB(area-by-area basis) 32 c 1 and place-name DB 32 c 2, and the specifiedmap data is read out and displayed on the touch panel-equipped displayunit 22 of the input/output device 20 (step A7).

In this manner, if a transition occurs to the state (steps A1 to A7) inwhich the map data Mn of the specified age and area is displayed afterthe explanatory information (historical information) of the dictionarywas displayed, the same subsequent process (steps A8 to A16) as theprocess of steps S6 to S14, which has been described in the operationaldescription of the map learning mode, will be executed.

Specifically, if a point on the map data Mn is touched by the user (stepS8 (Yes)), the designated position is displayed as illustrated in FIG.10A (step A9), and the place-name of this position is acquired anddisplayed (step A10).

In addition, if the item button Kn is designated (step A11 (Yes)),matters (historical information) of the corresponding item (Kn), whichinclude the place-name of the designated position, are searched from thehistorical dictionary DB 32 b 1 and displayed (steps A12 and A13).

Then, if a place-name h in the text of the displayed matters (historicalinformation) is selected (step A14 (Yes)), the position on the map dataMn, which corresponds to the selected place-name h, is displayed (stepA15).

In addition, if an item button Km, which is other than the designateditem button Kn, is designated (step A16 (Yes)), matters of the otheritem (Km), which include the place-name of the designated position, aresearched from the historical dictionary DB 32 b 1 and displayed (stepsA12 and A13).

Thus, according to the learning support apparatus 10 with theabove-described structure, each point on the map of the age that is theobject of learning can be designated, and the historical matters, whichoccurred at the designated point, can easily be learnt.

Additionally, based on historical matters (historical information)displayed in accordance with the place-name of the position designatedon the map, the position on the map of the place-name included in thosehistorical matters can easily be displayed.

Additionally, from the place-name included in desired historical matters(historical information) searched from the historical dictionary, a maprelating to the age of these historical matters, on which thisplace-name is present, can easily be displayed.

Therefore, easier learning is enabled by associating a historical matterwith geography of the age of the historical matter.

Incidentally, the methods and databases (DBs) of the respectiveprocesses by the learning support apparatus 10 described in each of theembodiments, that is, the respective methods of the history/geographylearning process illustrated in FIG. 7 and the dictionary search processin the history/geography learning process illustrated in FIG. 8 and thecontent DB 32 b and map/place-name DB 32 c, can all be stored ascomputer-executable programs in a medium of an external storage device,such as a memory card (ROM card, RAM card, etc.), a magnetic disk(floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disc (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.), ora semiconductor memory, and can be distributed. In addition, thecomputer (controller) of the electronic device reads the program, whichis stored in the medium of the external storage device, into the storagedevice, and the operation is controlled by this read-in program.Thereby, it is possible to realize the learning support function, whichhas been described in each of the embodiments, and to execute the sameprocesses by the above-described methods.

In addition, the data of the program for realizing each of theabove-described methods can be transmitted on a communication network inthe form of a program code, and the data of the program can be taken inthe electronic device from a computer apparatus (program server)connected to this communication network, and stored in the storagedevice, thereby realizing the above-described learning support function.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A learning support apparatus comprising a displayunit and a processor, the processor being configured to execute aprocess of: reading out map data of a designated age from a plurality ofmap data corresponding to a plurality of ages, and outputting theread-out map data; and reading out, if a position on a map is designatedon the output map data, historical information relating to thedesignated position and the designated age of the map from historicaldictionary data, and outputting the read-out historical information. 2.The learning support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a memorywhich stores the plurality of map data of the plurality of ages, thehistorical dictionary data, and place-name/position data in whichplace-names on the map data and position data are associated, whereinthe processor is configured to read out, at a time of outputting thehistorical information, if the position is designated, a place-namecorresponding to the designated position from the place-name/positiondata, to read out historical information, which relates to thedesignated age and includes the read-out place-name, from the historicaldictionary data, and to output the historical information.
 3. Thelearning support apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute a process of reading out, if a place-name isselected by a user from the output historical information, position datacorresponding to the selected place-name from the place-name/positiondata, and indicating a position corresponding to the place-name on theoutput map data.
 4. The learning support apparatus of claim 2, whereinthe processor is configured to execute: a dictionary search process ofsearching, from the historical dictionary data, historical informationrelating to an item designated by a user, and outputting the historicalinformation; and a relevant map output process of reading out, from theplurality of map data, relevant map data relating to historicalinformation which was output by the dictionary search process, andoutputting the map data.
 5. The learning support apparatus of claim 4,wherein the processor is configured to read out, at a time of outputtingthe relevant map data, if a place-name is selected by the user from thehistorical information that was output by the dictionary search process,map data, which relates to an age of the historical information andincludes the selected place-name, from the memory, and to output theread-out map data.
 6. The learning support apparatus of claim 5, whereinthe processor is configured to execute a process of prompting the userto select one of a mode of displaying a map and a mode of searching adictionary, wherein an output of a map by the relevant map outputprocess is executed when the mode of displaying the map was selected,and a search by the dictionary search process is executed when the modeof searching the dictionary was selected.
 7. A data output method in alearning support apparatus, comprising: reading out map data of adesignated age from a plurality of map data corresponding to a pluralityof ages, and outputting the read-out map data; and reading out, if aposition on a map is designated on the output map data, historicalinformation relating to the designated position and the designated agefrom historical dictionary data, and outputting the read-out historicalinformation.
 8. The data output method of claim 7, wherein the learningsupport apparatus comprises a memory which stores the plurality of mapdata of the plurality of ages, the historical dictionary data, andplace-name/position data in which place-names on the map data andposition data are associated, wherein, at a time of outputting thehistorical information, if the position is designated, a place-namecorresponding to the designated position from the place-name/positiondata, is read out, and historical information, which relates to thedesignated age and includes the read-out place-name, is read out fromthe historical dictionary data and is output.
 9. The data output methodof claim 8, further comprising: reading out, when a place-name wasselected by a user from the output historical information, position datacorresponding to the selected place-name from the place-name/positiondata, and indicating a position corresponding to the place-name on theoutput map data.
 10. The data output method of claim 8, furthercomprising: searching, from the historical dictionary data stored in thememory, historical information relating to an item designated by a user,and outputting the historical information; and reading out, from the mapdata stored in the memory, relevant map data relating to the outputhistorical information, and outputting the map data.
 11. The data outputmethod of claim 10, wherein, at a time of outputting the relevant mapdata, if a place-name if selected by the user from the output historicalinformation, map data, which relates to an age of the historicalinformation and includes the selected place-name, is read out from thememory, and is output.
 12. The data output method of claim 11, furthercomprising: prompting the user to select one of a mode of displaying amap and a mode of searching a dictionary, wherein an output of the mapis executed when the mode of displaying the map was selected, and asearch for the historical information is executed when the mode ofsearching the dictionary was selected.
 13. A computer-readable,non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon a program forcontrolling a computer of a learning support apparatus, the programcontrolling the computer to execute a process of: reading out map dataof a designated age from a plurality of map data corresponding to aplurality of ages, and outputting the read-out map data; and readingout, if a position on a map is designated on the output map data,historical information relating to the designated position and thedesignated age of the map from historical dictionary data, andoutputting the read-out historical information.
 14. The storage mediumof claim 13, wherein the learning support apparatus comprises a memorywhich stores the plurality of map data of the plurality of ages, thehistorical dictionary data, and place-name/position data in whichplace-names on the map data and position data are associated, whereinthe program controls the computer to execute a process of: reading out,at a time of outputting the historical information, if the position isdesignated, a place-name corresponding to the designated position fromthe place-name/position data, reading out historical information, whichrelates to the designated age and includes the read-out place-name, fromthe historical dictionary data, and outputting the historicalinformation.
 15. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the programcontrols the computer to execute a process of: reading out, if aplace-name is selected by a user from the output historical information,position data corresponding to the selected place-name from theplace-name/position data, and indicating a position corresponding to theplace-name on the output map data.
 16. The storage medium of claim 14,wherein the program controls the computer to execute: a dictionarysearch process of searching, from the historical dictionary data,historical information relating to an item designated by a user, andoutputting the historical information; and a relevant map data outputprocess of reading out, from the plurality of map data, relevant mapdata relating to the historical information that was output by thedictionary search process, and outputting the map data.
 17. The storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the program controls the computer to executea process of: reading out, at a time of outputting the relevant mapdata, if a place-name is selected by the user from the historicalinformation that was output by the dictionary search process, map data,which relates town age of the historical information and includes theselected place-name, from the memory, and outputting the map data. 18.The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the program controls thecomputer to execute a process of prompting the user to select one of amode of displaying a map and a mode of searching a dictionary, whereinan output of the map by the relevant map output process is executed whenthe mode of displaying the map was selected, and a search for thehistorical information by the dictionary search process is executed whenthe mode of searching the dictionary was selected.